
Pass. '/H 



Book 



P'V 



BEGULATIONS 



OF THE 



SCHOOL COMMITTEE 



OF THE 



TOWN OF DORCHESTEH 



WITH THE 



LAWS OF THE COMMONWEALTH 



BELA.T1NG TO THE 



DUTIES OF SCHOOL COMMITTEES. 



JUNE, 18 4 7- 



BOSTON: 

PRINTED BY DAVID CLAPP. 

1847. 



.31 









LAWS OF MASSACHUSETTS 

RELATING TO THE DUTIES OF SCHOOL COMMITTEES. 
[Revised Statutes, Chap, xxiii.] 

Section 10. — The inhabitants of every town shall, 
at their annual meetings, choose, by written ballot, a 
school committee, consisting of three, five, or seven 
persons, who shall have the general charge and super- 
intendence of all the public schools in such town. 

Sect. 12. — Any town, containing more than four 
thousand inhabitants, may choose an additional num- 
ber, not exceeding six, on such committee. 

Sect. 13. — The school committee shall require full 
and satisfactory evidence of the good moral character 
of all instructers, who may be employed in the public 
schools in their town, and shall ascertain, by personal 
examination, their literary qualifications and capacity 
for the government of schools. 

Sect. 14. — Every instructer of a town or district 
school shall obtain, of the school committee of such 
town, a certificate in duplicate, of his qualifications, 
before he open such school, one of which shall be filed 
with the town treasurer, before any payment is made 
to such instructer on account of his services. 

Sect. 17. — The school committee of each town shall 
direct what books shall be used in the several schools 
kept by the town ; and may direct what books shall be 
used in the respective classes. 

Sect. 18. — The scholars at the town schools shall 
be supplied by their parents, masters or guardians, with 
the books prescribed for their classes. 

Sect. 19. — The school committee of each town may 
procure, at the expense of the town, or otherwise, a 
sufficient supply of such class books, for all the schools 
aforesaid, and shall give notice of the place where such 
books may be obtained ; and the books shall be sup- 
plied to the scholars, at such prices, as merely to re- 
imburse the expense of the same. 

Sect. 20. — In case any scholar shall not be furnish- 
ed by the parent, master or guardian, with the requisite 
books, he shall be supplied therewith by the school 
committee, at the expense of the town. 

Sect. 21. — The school committee shall give notice, 



4 

in writing, to the assessors of the town, of the name^ 
of scholars so supplied by them with books, and of the 
books so furnished, the prices thereof, and the names 
of the parents, masters or guardians, who ought to 
have supplied the same ; and said assessors shall add 
the price of the books so supplied, to the next annual 
tax of such parents, masters or guardians ; and the 
amount so added shall be levied, collected and paid into 
the town treasury, in the same manner as the town taxes. 

Sect. 22. — In case the assessors shall be of opinion, 
that any such parent, master or guardian is unable to 
pay the whole expense of the books so supplied on his 
account, they shall omit tO'%dd the price of such books^ 
or shall add only a part thereof, to the annual tax of 
such parent, master or guardian, according to their 
opinion of his ability to pay. 

Sect. 23. — The school committee shall never direct 
to be purchased or used, in any of the town schools, 
any school books which are calculated to favor the 
tenets of any particular sect of Christians. 

Sect. 62.— The school committees, .of the several 
towns shall, on or before the first day of May in each 
year, make official returns, to the Secretary of the 
Commonwealth, of all the public schools in such towns, 
respectively, whether such schools are kept for school 
districts, or for the common benefit of all the inhabi- 
tants — which said school returns shall be made as is 
provided in the two following sections. 

Sect. 63 and 64 prescribe the form of the blanks to 
be filled, which are to be returned to the Secretary's 
office, on or before the first day of May, annually. 

Sect. 67. — The school committee of each town 
shall, annually, in the months of May or June, ascer- 
tain from actual examination, or otherwise, the number 
of persons belonging to such town on the first day of 
May in each year, between the ages of four and sixteen 
years, and shall make a certificate thereof, and also of 
the sum raised by the town at the annual meeting in 
the same year, for paying the wages of instructers 
solely, and shall transmit the same to the Secretary 
of the Commonweakh, on or before the first day of 
November following. 



OF THE 

SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF DORCHESTER, 

ADOPTED JUNE, 1847. 



SECTION I. THE COMMITTEE. 

KuLE 1. — The officers of the committee shall consist 
of a chairman and secretary, to be chosen at their an- 
nual meeting, by ballot. 

Rule 2, — It shall be the duty of the chairman to 
preside at all meetings ; to call to order as soon as a 
quorum shall have assembled ; cause the journal of the 
preceding meeting to be read ; and then proceed to 
business. In his absence, the secretary shall call to 
order, and a chairman pro tern, be chosen forthwith by 
the committee. 

Rule 3. — It,g]i;sLll be the duty of the secretary to 
keep a faithful record of the proceedings of the com- 
mittee, with the names of members present at each 
■ meeting. He shall notify the members of all meetings 
of the committee ; and all sub-committees of their ap- 
pointment and duty, by transmitting to their respective 
first-named members,, an attested copy of the vote by 
which they were appointed, with the names of the mem- 
bers of said sub-committee ; and perform such other 
duties as by custom belong to the office of secretar}^ 

Rule 4. — It shall be the duty of the secretary to 
draw upon the treasurer for the amount of all accounts 
duly authorized by the board, or which have been le- 
gally approved by any of the sub-committees — and the 
secretary will attend at the Town Hall, to examine any 
accounts that may be presented, on the afternoons of the 
first Wednesday of January, April, July and October. 

Rule 5. — The committee shall meet annually, on 
the Monday following the day of their election to office, 
for organization and business. Stated meetings of the 
board shall be held on the first Tuesday of June, Sep- 
tember and December, and on the last Wednesday in 
1* 



6 

February ; and special meetings may be called by the 
chairman and secretary whenever deemed necessary. 
Five members present shall form a quorum. 

Rule 6. — The committee shall annually, in the month 
of February, visit all the schools in the town, either 
collectively, or by division of the committee, as from 
time to time may be thought expedient. 

SECTION II. SUB-COMMITTEES. 

Rule 1. — The several individuals of this board re- 
presenting the several districts, shall be known by the 
name of " Local Committees "; and in case there should 
be a vacancy in the board, or more schools in a district 
than a single individual can conveniently attend to, it 
shall be incumbent on this board to designate one or 
more individuals to take charge of the destitute schools. 
And it shall be the duty of these committees to take 
charge of the schools in their respective districts ; to 
attend to j;he making any repairs that will not admit of 
(ielay — aid the committee on repairs, in their inqui- 
ries into the wants of the schools, s ^aAl make known 
to the same committee anything that may properly 
come within the limits of their duties ; to visit their 
schools at least once in a month, advise the teachers • 
in all cases of difficulty, see that the children are pro- 
vided with books in conformity to the Statutes of the 
Commonwealth, examine and approve the teachers' 
bills, and all other accounts, before they are rendered 
to the secretary of the board. 

Rule 2. — A committee of three or more from the 
board shall be appointed, annually, to be called the 
" Examining Committee," to visit each of the schools in 
the town, at least twice in a year, the first examination 
to be completed previous to the 15th day of July — and 
it shall be the duty of this committee to ascertain the 
proficiency of the pupils in their several studies ; in- 
quire into the moral character of the pupils, and what 
efforts the teachers make to enforce the duties of mo- 
rality; in the month of February determine what pupils 
are qualified to be advanced from the primary to the 
grammar schools ; and, so far as possible, learn whe- 
ther the laws of the Commonwealth relating to public 



education, and the regulations of this board, have been 
faithfully observed — and report thereon at meetings of ^ 
this board to be held in f^i^^^and Februar 

Rule 3. — A committee ot three "hail^be appointed 
annually, to be called the '* Committee on Repairs," 
and it shall be the duty of this committee annually, in 
the month of April, to visit all the school-houses in the 
town, and any of the schoo] -houses, at any other time, 
when so requested by any of the local committees, and 
ascertain what repairs may be needed, what additions 
and improvements should be made to the furniture, 
and report thereon to the meeting of this board to be 
held in June — unless, in the opinion of the said com- 
mittee, the repairs be of a nature requiring immediate 
attention, in which case it shall be the duty of the 
committee to give authority for their immediate execu- 
tion. But no important alterations or additions shall 
be made to any school-house, without a vote of this 
board authorizing the same. 

Rule 4. — All repairs made under the direction or by 
the recommendation of this committee, must be ap- 
proved by the local committee connected with the 
school-house in which the repairs were made, and by 
at least one member of the committee on repairs, before 
being presented to the secretary of the board for his 
approval. 

Rule 5. — A committee of five shall be a-ppointed 
annually, to be entitled the " Committee on Books," 
whose duty 'it shall be to recomm.end to this board any 
bo'o'ks "that*they may think necessary for schools, and 
no books shall be adopted by this board to be used in 
the schools, unless the said books shall have been pre- 
viously recommended by a majority of this committee. 

Rule 6. — The chairman and secretary, with the 
local committee connected with any school to which a 
teacher is to be appointed, shall form a committee, to 
be called the " Appointing Committee." It shall be 
the duty of this committee to examine and contract 
with all teachers to be employed in our schools, pro- 
vided that if this committee should not be unanimous 
in their choice, the subject may be referred to and de- 
cided by the board. 



8 

Rule 7. — In case of disaffection towards any of the 

teachers, the appointing committee shall have power to 

*dismi<ssUhem-— ^jovi^^Si:i^^}vhen the committee are 

not unanimous, tlie subject shall be referred to the 

board. 

Rule 8. — The chairman and secretary shall form a 
committee to make all necessary arrangements for the 
annual visitation of the schools in February, and assign 
to each member of the board the schools which it will 
be his duty to visit. 

SECTION III. INSTRUCTERS. 

Rule 1. — At the stated meeting in February annu- 
ally, the instructers shall be elected and their salaries 
voted. 

Rule 2. — It shall be the duty of the instructers to 
teach the pupils agreeably to the course hereinafter 
prescribed ; to keep the registers with accuracy and 
completeness ; maintain order and discipline in their 
schools ; pay attention to the cleanliness, manners and 
morals of their children ; allow no profane or indecent 
language, o. boisterous -noise within or about their re- 
spective schools ; to see that the furniture, out-houses 
and fences, and all other property belonging to the 
schools, be kept from wanton injury. 

Rule 3. — It shall be the duty of the teachers to see 
that the 'fires are made in time to warm their respective 
school rooms, before the appointed time for opening 
their schools, and also to keep the school Foom, entries 
and out-houses in a neat condition ; and'f(^the promo- 
tion of these objects, an annual allowance of $7,50 for 
each school shall be made, which sums, to the several 
schools, shall be in full of all demands for all expenses 
of making fire and cleaning. 

Rule 4. — It shall be the duty of the teachers to be 
in the school room at least fifteen minutes before com- 
mencing school. 

Rule 5. — It shall be the duty of the instructers to 
open their schools daily by reading a portion of scripture, 
and such other devotional exercises as they may choose. 

Rule 6. — No teacher shall be allowed to relinquish 
the charge of his school, without giving at least three 



9 

weeks notice to the local committee of his school ; and 
in ordinary cases no teacher shall be required to give 
up the charge of his scho.o.1 vyithout having received at 
least three weeks notice from the committee to that 
effect. 

SECTION IV. 

Rule 1. — Children, who have arrived at the age of 
four years, may be admitted to the primary schools, 
and be continued in the same until fitted for the gram- 
mar schools. 

Rule 2. — No child shall be admitted to the grammar 
schools under 10 years of age, unless the said child 
shall be able to read and spell correctly in the reading 
books prescribed for the primary schools, be well ac- 
quainted with the first eleven sections of Colburn's 
First Lessons in Arithmetic, with so much of Fowle 
and Fitz's Geography as relates to New England and 
Massachusetts — and the whole of Mitchell's Primary 
Geography ; provided, that if the good of any school 
may render it expedient, children not possessing the 
literary qualifications stated above, may, by consent of 
the local committees, be admitted to the grammar 
schools. 

Rule 3. — Annually in the month of March, under 
the direction of the several local committees, those pu- 
pils only may be advanced from the primary to the 
grammar schools, who have been found qualified for 
pror«9it©-n«i-nfcll departments of study by the examin- 
irf*'*t^yftTllfttt*0^*resp^'?t-'1^5*t^Ta.-k-pity. o£ . ajttenda^iaa al.- 
ways to be regarded. Pupils may be advanced at o^herU 
times, when, in the opinion of any of the local commit- 
tees, such promotion may be expedient — although it is 
desirable that the first clause of this rule should not be 
deviated from, except in cases of unquestionable impor- 
tance. 

Rule 4. — No child living in one district shall be al- 
lowed to attend school in another district, unless by 
consent of the two local committees connected with 
the said districts. 

Rule 5. — Any child, who, in the opinion of his pa- 
rents or guardian, has been unjustly or cruelly punish- 



10 

ed by a teacher, shall have a right of appeal to the local 
committee of the school ; and it shall be the duty ot the 
said committee to inquire into the subject of the com- 
plaint, and if the complaint be just, he shall obtam such 
satisfaction from the teacher as in his opinion the case 
may demand. Provided, that the pupil or the teacher 
may have a right of appealing from the committee to 
the board, when the decision of the said committee may 
not be satisfactory. 

SECTION V. SCHOOL HOURS— VACATIONS, 

Rule 1. — The several schools shall commence at 9 
o'clock, A. M., and close at 12, M., through the year. 
From April 1 to October 1, they shall commence at 2, 
P. M., and close at 5, P. M. ; and from October 1 to 
April 1, they shall commence at 1, P. M., and close at 
4, P. M. ; unless, in the opinion of any of _ the local 
committees, other hours vi^ill be more convenient. 

Rule 2. — The doors of the school shall be opened 
for the reception of the scholars at least fifteen minutes 
before the time of commencing the school. 

Rule 3. — No pupil in the grammar schools shall be 
admitted to school after the regular time of commenc- 
ing the school, without a satisfactory excuse from his 
parents. And all absences must be satisfactorily ac- 
counted for before a child is allowed to resume his seat. 

Rule 4. — The teachers shall be excused from keep- 
ing school as follows. Every Wednesday afternoon 
and every Saturday afternoon in the year jtftr<gl*h.fi<wftihffl] q 
oiL>S^,feM«4 ay .,.j a t jh.e>^^#e>i^i« n!rM ^ ^ * isfe'»^al > I 9 eoA i a •• ms t etk 
^fe'^e* — Fast days — the week including the Annual 
Thanksgiving — first Monday in June — -4th day of 
July — the afternoon of the days for stated town meet- 
ings — the week that includes the last Wednesday in 
May — two weeks, in July or August, at the discretion 
of the local committees of the several districts the re- 
mainder of the week following the day of visitation in 
February. 

SECTION \^. BUILDINGS. 

Rule 1.— No pupil or other person shall be allowed 
to cut, deface, defile or otherwise injure the school 



11 

rooms, or furniture thereof, or the out-houses or fences 
thereto belonging. And in case of any pupil being 
guilty of such offence, he shall be reported forthwith 
by the instructer to the committee of the district. 

Rule 2.— The school-houses shall not be opened or 
used for any other purposes than the regular instruction 
of the public schools, and the business of the districts 
relating to said schools, without special permission 
from the town. 

SECTION VII. SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION. 

The following books selected by the committee are 
to be used in the several schools ; and no other books 
are to be introduced by the teachers, or to be allowed 
to be used by them in the schools. 

1. Primary Schools. — Worcester's Primer — Swan's 
Reading Books, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Parts — Fowle's Spell- 
ins;^ Book — Colburn's First Lessons in Arithmetic — 
Geography for Massachusetts Children, by Wm. B. 
Fowle and Asa Fitz — Mitchell's Geography, 1st Part. 

2. Grammar Schools. — Swan's Grammar School 
Reader — Swan's District School Reader — Russell's 
American School Reader — Frederic A. Adams's Arith- 
metic — Sherwin's Common School Algebra — Mitch- 
ell's Geography and Atlas — Wells's Grammar — Will- 
son's History of the United States— Parker's Progres- 
sive Exercises in Composition — Fowle's Spelling Book 
• — Worcester's Dictionary — New Testament. 

Pupils of the first class, who have become familiar 
with the foregoing works, may be allowed to use the 
following books. Foster's Book-keeping — Abercrom- 
bie's Intellectual Philosophy — Sherwin's Elementary 
Treatise on Algebra — Grund's Geometry — Olmstead's 
Natural Philosophy — Davis's or Day's Surveying — 
Smellie's Philosophy of Natural History — Works on 
Botany, Physiology, Chemistry, Geology and Moral 
Philosophy, as hereafter may be approved by the com- 
mittee on books. 

3. All the pupils in the grammar schools shall be 
instructed in writing as often as the instructers may 
deem it useful. 



12 

4. Pupils of the first class shall be required to p rac- 
tise in the art of composition, at least once in a brt- 
night — in which exercises Parker's Progressive Exer- 
cises in Composition is recommended as an aid. 

5. Lineal drawing and vocal music are recomm ;nd- 
ed to be practised in all the schools, so far as they nay 
not interfere with more important exercises. 

It is the duty of all " instructors of youth to exert 
their best endeavors, to impress on the minds of child- 
ren and youth, committed to their care and instruction, 
the principles of piety, justice, and a sacred regard to 
truth, love to their country, humanity and universal 
benevolence, sobriety, industry and frugality, chastity, 
moderation and temperance, and those other virtues, 
which are the ornament of human society, and the ba- 
sis upon which a republican constitution is founaed ; 
and it shall be the duty of such instructors to endeavor 
to lead their pupils, as their ages and capacities will 
admit, into a clear understanding of the tendency of 
the above mentioned virtues to preserve and perfect a 
republican constitution, and secure the blessings of 
liberty, as well as to promote their future happiness, 
and also to point out to them the evil tendency of the 
opposite vices." — Rev. Stat. ch. 23, ^7. 



m 



